Easter Morning aka How to Deal With Peeps
by Samantha Bridges
Summary: Another tale inspired with the help of Karma. How the doctor deals with Easter Morning, and with being the unhappy recipient of some lovely blue Peeps. Corny, really. You can all eat me later, dear ones. Reviews encouraged, as always, with a smile.


Karma and I strike again! Too much Easter candy this time. Just a little something to amuse during the holidays, and to entertain while I work on the ending to Obligations. Again, same disclaimer as with the song: Don't ask, don't question the incongruity of the situation, just read. Enjoy, dear ones!

**************************************************************************************

The sun hangs bright and golden over the famed city by the bay as church bells call the faithful to mass and Easter services. The ghostly bells filter in through the open window of a Victorian on Nob Hill. A woman snuggles against her husband, face buried in his shoulder, trying to ignore the small footfalls that are echoing in the hallway. She cringes against him as she hears the door open, and the footsteps enter the room. Moments later, two projectiles land on the bed. One squeals with delight as she crawls over the blanket covered bodies, while the other slobbers on them. The woman crushes her face into the pillow as her husband pushes himself up on one elbow.

"Mischa, what have we discussed about waking your mother and I in this manner?" he asks, working the cobwebs of sleep from his voice. Even for Hannibal Lecter, it is rather hard to sound intimidating in the morning. His daughter eyes him, and plunges forward to kiss him on the cheek.

"You told me not to, but you have to get up!" she releases him and lowers her face to where her mother still has her head hidden. A kiss is planted on the exposed cheek. "You gotta get up too, Mommy! The Easter Bunny came!"

Emily rolls to face her daughter, noting the bemused look on her husband's face. "He did, darling?" she asks, voice still slightly foggy.

"Yeah! You have to see it! There's a HUGE basket downstairs!" she flung her arms wide, causing her father to shy back to avoid the four year old's hands.

"That's wonderful, Mischa." she tried to enthuse, but was interrupted by a yawn. Her husband was smiling and patting her leg under the covers. "Go downstairs, but DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING until your father and I get down there."

She was rewarded with a huge grin and a gleam in her daughter's eyes that indicated that she would obey her mother's command for about five minutes. She hopped down from the bed and clapped her hands to get the slobbering beagle to follow her. She paused by the door, pink nightgown swirling around her ankles.

"You'll hurry, right?"

It was Hannibal's turn to answer. "Yes, we will be down shortly. Now, go." She grinned and closed the door behind her, and both parents could hear hurried footsteps heading down the stairs. Hannibal lowered himself back to the bed and let his wife snuggle back against him. He rubbed the small of her back as they relaxed.

"How big is this basket you gave her?" he asked, placing a gentle kiss against her forehead. He had steadfastly to get involved with the Easter ritual, allowing Emily to do everything while he watched from a distance.

"Big enough. Don't worry, its not all candy." she played with the buttons on his pajama top. Fingers tickled his chest between the buttons. "I made you a basket, too."

"Indeed."

She rolled back and grinned at him. She brushed her fingers against his cheek before she slipped from the bed. "Come on. Your little terror won't behave for long." She took her dressing gown from the closet and slipped it on, tying the belt before she retrieved his. He was out of the bed by then, standing next to her.

"My little terror?" he asked, slipping into the quilted blue silk.

"She didn't get it from me." she grinned, knowing full well that they were both to blame. He leaned close and nipped at her neck. As much as she would rather stay up here and while away the morning with him, but their daughter was waiting. She gave a tug on his arm, heading for the door. "Come on."

*****

Mischa sat in the living room, in front of the hearth where an admittedly HUGE Easter basket sat. Two smaller baskets sat next to it, bring sniffed at by the beagle. Emily had snatched the camera from the front room as they passed. Hannibal settled onto the couch, idly petting the beagle as she came over to nose him. Emily loaded the film into the camera and settled onto the couch, leaning against her husband as she tucked her legs under her. Mischa looked from the basket back to them hopefully.

"Can I open it now?"

"Yes." Both parents replied in unison. No sooner was the word uttered then the four year old began to rip into the basket. Fake green grass spilled out as she dug through it. Emily had taken care to nestle little presents in the grass, along with eggs they had decorated the previous night and candy. The candy was kept to a minimum, as Hannibal did not approve of pumping his daughter full of sugar. Chocolate was a rare treat for both females. Emily did not reveal to Hannibal that she knew about his 'addiction' to Ben & Jerry's ice cream, namely the Peanut Butter Truffle flavor. She found it endearing that even he couldn't resist all junk food. 

"Look, Mommy!" she held up a CD proudly, showing it off to her captive audience. "He brought me a Gershwin CD!" Gershwin was currently the four year old's favorite composer, and she had been begging for a CD ever since Santa forgot it at Christmas. 'Santa' had carefully forgotten it, instead giving the child a CD of Bach's _Goldberg Variations_. Emily smiled and nodded, catching the slight grimace on Hannibal's face out of the corner on her eye.

Mischa had laid the CD on the floor as she dug further into the basket. Within a few minutes she had emptied it and sat amid a sea of the fake grass. She turned to the other baskets, looking at them.

"Mommy, I think the Easter bunny brought you something too."

"Really? Can you bring them over here so we can see them?" Emily asked, watching as her daughter carefully carried the baskets over to them one at a time. She settled back into her grass nest and watched intently as her parents dug through the grass in the baskets. Emily smiled as she showed her husband the skin cremes and lotions she had received in hers. Little indulgences she had purchased fro herself. She had also stashed chocolate bunnies from See's in all of the baskets, and had put a box of shockingly blue Peeps in both her husband's and daughter's baskets.

"What, dear, are these?" he asked as he held the yellow package by the corner, eyeing the blue _things_ inside the cellophane.

"They're yummie Daddy!" cried Mischa as she jumped to her feet, abandoning her toys to climb onto the couch with them. Emily scooted over so Mischa could sit next to her father. "See? They've got marshmallow and sugar. With chocolate eyes!"

"So I see." he gave a mild glare to Emily, who was smirking as she munched the ears on a chocolate bunny. 

"What would you have preferred the bunny bring you?" she asked, letting Mischa poke through her basket. She was interested in the lavender massage oil that Emily had bought. She liked the bubbles as she shook it.

"Beluga caviar." he replied, deadpan. "I believe that if an overgrown rabbit can rob millions of hens of their ova, then he can certainly secure me some caviar."

"Daddy, what's ova?" 

Emily giggled and moved to stand form the couch. "I'll explain later. Go get dressed." she lifted Mischa from the couch as well and set her down facing the doorway. The little girl ran from the room, with the beagle trailing behind her. Emily looked back to Hannibal, trying to suppress a grin.

"Peeps?" he asked, still looking distastefully at the blue confections. 

"Peeps." she confirmed, she grabbed her basket and headed to the stairs. "They are wonderfully amusing of you roast them over a fire. They turn into little charred peeps, after they expand, of course."

"Of course." he nodded in agreement. Setting the Peeps down as he rose to join her. "You will regret this, Emily." His lips were very close to her ear and she shivered involuntarily as he spoke.

"I doubt it. Come on, we need to be back down here before she can eat all the candy and feed some to the dog."

*****

Much later that day, actually night now, Emily made her way upstairs to the master bedroom. Mischa had gone to bed hours ago, happily clutching the stuffed floppy eared rabbit she had received in her basket. Hannibal had disappeared into his upstairs study about an hour ago, leaving Emily time to finish writing an article for a local psychiatry journal. That finished, she was looking forward to curling up in her bed. She pushed the door open and turned on the lights, and was greeted with a most unusual sight. Lined up on the bed, in neat precise rows of five, were fifteen headless peeps. It was rather bizarre, but she couldn't help but giggle.

Hannibal stepped into the room behind her, looking over her shoulder at the display. He held a basket in his hands which he used to nudge her forward. In it lay his Harpy and fifteen peeps heads. She turned to look at the basket and giggled again at the sight. She had learned long ago that her husband had a twisted sense of humor. She plucked head from the basket and looked at it.

"You really didn't have to do that."

He shrugged lightly, a smile tugging at his lips. "Really, now, Emily. Would you have rather you been the object of my intentions?"

"No," she laughed as she popped the head into her mouth. "But then again, this really wasn't necessary." she began to grab the beheaded peeps off the bed and drop them into the basket, removing the Harpy before she did so. 

"Well, then, sweet Emily, you will remind the bunny to get me Beluga caviar next year."

"Right." she grinned and kissed him on the lips, leaving a trace of the blue sugar on them. She pulled away and pressed the Peep she was holding against his lips until he ate it. The look of distaste on his face was too funny for her. He gallantly swallowed the marshmallow and took the basket back from her.

"See? not bad." she grinned and snuck another one from the basket as he held it away from her. He mused for a moment, carefully keeping his face blank.

"Next year, bring me caviar."

*****

Yeah, yeah, yeah… Its dorky. So eat me. :D Anyhoo, normal disclaimers do apply. I think you know the spiel by now, so I won't bore you with it. Happy Easter, all.


End file.
